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THE EDITOR, Sir: KINGSTON HAS always been one of my favourite cities in the whole world. A drive around the capital last Sunday changed all that and, in fact, left me rather depressed. As a matter of fact, I think if we are not prepared to revitalise the city in some very significant ways, then we should remove the capital to some other location!
As one who spent so much of my life in this city, I feel ashamed of what we as a people have allowed it to become. I can't imagine why the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation councilors are presiding so proudly over this huge dump. All of 10 square miles of it. This must be numbered among the largest concentration of ghettos in the world. Shame on us all for allowing this to happen to this once-charming city.
Centre of decay
Our Parliament, the seat of power, sits in the middle of this dump. The seat of the city's council is there. The largest market in the English-speaking Caribbean (Coronation) is a dump at the best of time. It's amazing that we have escaped any major food-based diseases from the produce purchased there on a weekly basis. The once-beautiful Ward Theatre sits in the midst of all this decay with little to sustain it.
The mayor of the city spends a lot of time uptown taking down signs and terrorising people parked on the roadside going about their lawful business. What is he and his councillors doing about downtown Kingston? Where is the serious long-term plan for the city? Where is the big vision? They seem incapable of even collecting and disposing of the daily garbage generated in Kingston.
In any great society, visitors are drawn to its capital, which is often the centre for art, culture, commerce and nightlife. In our case, the capital city is a place you try and avoid at all cost. Kingston, our beloved city, is crying out for leaders from all sectors with big vision. Unfortunately, if we can't find them, then we must move the capital.
I am, etc.,
CARL BLISS
cables@logic-one.net
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2.../letters7.html
As one who spent so much of my life in this city, I feel ashamed of what we as a people have allowed it to become. I can't imagine why the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation councilors are presiding so proudly over this huge dump. All of 10 square miles of it. This must be numbered among the largest concentration of ghettos in the world. Shame on us all for allowing this to happen to this once-charming city.
Centre of decay
Our Parliament, the seat of power, sits in the middle of this dump. The seat of the city's council is there. The largest market in the English-speaking Caribbean (Coronation) is a dump at the best of time. It's amazing that we have escaped any major food-based diseases from the produce purchased there on a weekly basis. The once-beautiful Ward Theatre sits in the midst of all this decay with little to sustain it.
The mayor of the city spends a lot of time uptown taking down signs and terrorising people parked on the roadside going about their lawful business. What is he and his councillors doing about downtown Kingston? Where is the serious long-term plan for the city? Where is the big vision? They seem incapable of even collecting and disposing of the daily garbage generated in Kingston.
In any great society, visitors are drawn to its capital, which is often the centre for art, culture, commerce and nightlife. In our case, the capital city is a place you try and avoid at all cost. Kingston, our beloved city, is crying out for leaders from all sectors with big vision. Unfortunately, if we can't find them, then we must move the capital.
I am, etc.,
CARL BLISS
cables@logic-one.net
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/2.../letters7.html
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